With a theme of “Enhancing the Quality and Performance of LED Lighting,” this year’s Strategies in Light Europe 2011 conference takes place in Milan, Italy.

After a successful launch in September 2010, the Strategies in Light Europe conference and exhibition moves to Milan, Italy, where the event will take place on October 4-6, 2011. The conference program, below, will address key issues surrounding the evolution and transformation of the lighting market, and the ongoing development of higher-quality, higher-performance LED lighting.

LED street lights saving cash in Seattle

The city of Seattle has installed thousands of LED street lights and is reaping the benefits in terms of hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings.

LED street lights in the city of Seattle, WA, are already saving $300,000 a year, according to city representatives. And the Seattle City Light utility is working to install tens of thousands more, says City Council-member Bruce Harrell and City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco.

Once a total of 41,000 lights are installed, by the end of 2014, they are expected to cut operating costs by $2.4 million a year.

City Light installed 6,000 lights last year between the Ship Canal and North 65th Street. The utility has started work on the second phase of installing LED street lights throughout the residential neighborhoods in its service territory. Contractors will install 12,000 LED street lights this year from North 65th Street to the north end of City Light’s service territory.

“In today’s challenging economy, it’s important that we look for every opportunity to stretch every dollar as far as it can go,” Harrell said. “Our new LED street lights are reducing energy and maintenance costs while providing better, more reliable lighting.”

LED lighting installed in London road tunnel

The Upper Thames Street tunnel in Central London has become the first UK road tunnel to be fitted with linear LED lighting, according to Transport for London. In a UK first, linear LED lighting has been installed in a central London tunnel by Transport for London (TfL), helping to improve safety and reduce maintenance closures as well as cut energy consumption and costs.

The Upper Thames Street westbound tunnel is now entirely lit with LED lights. The design and colour of the lights is intended to improve visibility for cyclists and motorists to boost safety.

TfL says that it will be closely monitoring the LED lighting system over the coming months to validate the new technology, whilst investigating other suitable sites to use LED and innovative lighting technology within the other 12 tunnels on the TfL Road Network, as well as within subways and street lighting.

Projections show that the cost of lighting the Upper Thames Street tunnel could fall from around GBP 50,000 each year to less than GBP 10,000. The LED lights are expected to last for 20 years, as opposed to the existing system's two-year life span, significantly reducing the need for maintenance closures. Also, the tunnel lights will cut CO2 emissions by more than 60 per cent